I happened to be in Boston this year during the time that the marathon was happening. It was an incredible event to behold. I stood outside in the bitter cold and rain for four hours doing my best to protect my equipment from the weather...and loved every minute of it. I was just a block or two from the finish line and got to witness athletes at the point where they were the most drained (physically, mentally, and emotionally), yet at the point where they also had the most hope because the end was finally in sight. I saw top athletes from around the globe come striding in at a blistering pace. I also saw disabled folks cross the finish line claiming their own personal victories. I saw military veterans running in their boots and uniforms. In the background were armies of volunteers helping make the event possible as well as law enforcement protecting runners and spectators. Check out all of my Boston Marathon photos here because the photos say a lot more than my words ever could:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/+BryanRasmussen1/albums/6141642445946747761

My second year of being on the photography staff for StarFest. Three years ago it was this convention that got me hooked on photographing conventions and cosplay. In addition to be a great convention all around, StarFest sticks out to me as having an amazing costume contest and dance (Federation Ball). While the main focus of the convention is probably Star Wars and Star Trek, there are different "fests" within the convention devoted to Dr. Who, Horror, model builing, and gaming. Here is my photo gallery from StarFest 2015:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/+BryanRasmussen1/albums/6141277525102109569

Stan LeeStan Lee jokes with audience at Salt Lake Comic Con

John BarrowmanJohn Barrowman entertains crowd at Salt Lake Comic Con

Lou FerrignoLou Ferrigno flexes in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Salt Lake Comic Con

As one of the official photographers at Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 I was able to get up close and personal while photographing many of the celebrities. There was a record-breaking crowd of over 120,000 in attendance over the weekend, making Salt Lake Comic Con the largest convention in Utah and the third largest Comic Convention in the United States.  With so many panels and celebrities in attendance, the chore was figuring out how to see everything on my list. One of the highlights for me was when I attended Lou Ferrigno's presentation. At the end, the moderator asked me to come on stage and take a photo of Lou and the crowd (seen above).

See more of my celebrity photos at Salt Lake Comic Con here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.636955876420214.1073741849.191755527606920&type=3

Night 2 of DFW was all about local Colorado fashion designers and boutiques.  The pre-show party was DJ'd by the very cool J'adore.  The lineups included presentations by Oscar Utierre, Steadbrook, Crystal Lee, Yotomi Yoshida, Jiberish, Tikwid, and Mondo.  Mondo was certainly the most anticipated lineup of the night, and the most popular (he was the runner up finalist on Season 8 of Project Runway and later won the series' first All-Stars season).  However, I was completely fascinated by Tikwid's style and use of animal carcasses in its lineup.  It was a great show and very interesting.  I hope to go back next time because unfortunately I had to miss night three, which was the highly anticipated hair styling competition.

See photos from DFW's Night 2 here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.551898234925979.1073741839.191755527606920&type=3